Sunday, September 24, 2006

With 25 countries making it official, we have approximately half our list for Oscar consideration (it's usually around 50 competitors that end up screening for AMPAS voters, trying to nab one of those highly coveted spots on a shortlist of 5)

Among the first half of the submissions, I'd watch out for these in particular:

Germany -The Lives of Others Qualitatively speaking, it's said to be a threat for the win. Entertainment Weekly calls it "utterly riveting".Denmark -After the Wedding (trailer). Susanne Bier's dramas might be a bit tough for Oscar but they also jerk tears, which sometimes translates to votes.Canada -Water. Already a hit here in the US --usually a good sign. If you want to get a jumpstart on this category, this film is now available on DVD.South Korea - The King and the Clown. A festival hit about a gay love triangle in the Chosun Dynasty. If it can be an enormous controversial success in its conservative home country, it could conceivably win over Oscar's often timid voting body, too.Switzerland - Vitus. Familiar faces can be comforting to voters and the enduring, internationally employed Bruno Ganz (The Downfall) leads this cast as a grandfather with high piano-prodigy hopes for his grandson. This category has a history of really enjoying 'senior citizen goes on emotional journey with young child' dramas (See also: Kolya, Central Station, etc...)

I keep saying the strongest are "Volver" and "Indigenes", if "Volver" is chosen it is great enough to take the award, very diserving. However, if they go with Salvador or Alatriste(this movie SUCKS!), I think "Pans Labyrinth" will become the front-runner...

How interesting that Water was submitted by Canada. But, yes, the film has been a big hit around the world.

I just really hope Ten Canoes can make it. I know barely anyone around here has seen it, but it's really bloody good.

BTW Nat, the actual poster for Ten Canoes can be found here:

http://www.antarvictoria.org.au/images/187.jpg

It's really quite a great poster when you consider the man on the poster (and the star of the movie) is Jamie Gulpilil, essentially recreating the Walkabout poster that featured his father 35 years ago, just in a different setting.

etslee the only new rule I'm aware of is the relaxing of the language rules. Now, it doesn't matter what language the film is in just that it's not in English (it used to have to be indigenous to your country --which caused problems for immigration dramas and other multicultural productions.)

Pan's Labyrinth doesn't just look pretty, it was the best film I saw at the 2006 TIFF. A masterful film about Franco's brutal regime in Spain seen through the eyes of young girl who transforms the horrors into a faery tale.

Something about "Pao's story" submitted by Vietnam. It's a film by Ngo Quang Hai, not by Bui Thac Chuyen. Running time: 97 min. You can check details from this review:

"Helmer-scripter Ngo Quang Hai's debut feature, "Pao's Story, is a contemplative but overlong coming-of-age tale set among the Hmong people, an ethnic minority indigenous to the mountains of North Vietnam. Based on true events and told through the eyes of the serenely beautiful Do Thi Hai Yen (star of "The Quiet American" and Ngo's wife), pic's convoluted plot about heroine's two mothers is not exactly a thrill ride, but magnificent scenery, colorful costumes and authentically exotic players make for a restful ethnographic jaunt. Pic and actress snagged Golden Kite awards -- the Vietnamese equivalent of an Oscar -- at home, but failed to score at the box office.

Pao's ethnicity does not play a dramatic part in her story. Instead, hers is a universal story about letting go of resentments based on childhood memories, as multiple revelations alter her perception of the past. But ultimately, even these lessons of maturity serve as a pretext to experience the widescreen vistas and graceful rhythms of a timeless rural existence, shepherded by an especially beautiful woman in a fetching folkloric getup."(By RONNIE SCHEIB - Variety)

My favo among the foreign Films is Black Book. Stunning and great leading actress Carice van Houten. Sings well too. Some caracters and telling in the movie are based on reality out of WWII... My suggestion is go see it.

Hello! I've got a last-minute-news on Argentina's submission. Finally, "Derecho de familia" (a bitter-sweet comedy about a young lawyer dealing with the experience of becoming "dad": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0474622) was the selected one to competition for an oscar nomination.http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/09/29/um/m-01280975.htm

Pay attention to Italian film "Nuovomondo", I think It will included in the 5 nominations. It's a perfect story for the Academy: a tale of emigration from Sicily to USA in the early 1900. And we have no to forget that the film is spoken in Italian and English and in it there's the last performance of Vincent Schiavelli. Nuovomondo is going to the Oscar.

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Saw Blackbook recently, its quite a great movie, altough the characters are more two dimensional, but the story is great and convincing. I think this lead actress is far far more talented than Sharon Stone...but yeah Sharon's got other qualities